Cephas Ministries': Do Freemasons Worship Satan/Lucifer

Cephas Ministries write in their opening paragraph, "Over time there has been much debate as to whom the true god of Freemasonry really is. In this article we will be quoting Masonic authorities to come to a conclusion that it is Lucifer/Satan who is the god of the lodge."

Firstly, Freemasonry is not a religion, therefore it has no god.

Secondly, who the "Masonic authorities" that Cephas Ministries quote? They are:
Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma,
Eliphas Levi,
Arthur Edward Waite,
Manly P. Hall, and
Helena Blavatsky.
Albert Pike

Cephas Ministries quotes the "Instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the World, July 14, 1889. Recorded by A. C. DeLa Rive in La Femme et l'Enfant dans la Franc Maconnerie Universelle" to prove that Freemasons worship Satan.

Art de Hoyos writes, "The quote . . . is from a discredited anti-Masonic book by Edith Starr Miller (a.k.a 'Lady Queenborough') called 'Occult Theocrasy' (1933). In it she wrote: The theological dogma of Albert Pike is explained in the Instructions issued by him, on July 14, 1889, to the 23 Supreme Councils of the world and have been recorded by A, C. De La Rive in La Femme et l'Enfant dans la Franc-Maconnerie Universelle (page 588) from which we translate and quote as follows: That which we must say to the crowd is -- we worship a God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition. To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethern of the 32nd, 31st and 30th degrees -- The Masonic religion should be, to all of its initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine. . . .' Edith Miller was apparently unaware that this 'quotation' was a forgery created by a French hoaxer named 'Leo Taxil' (real name: Gabriel Jogand-Pages). Taxil created this, and other bogus 'quotations' . . . in an effort to discredit Freemasonry and Albert Pike. In 1897, after writing several sensational books, Taxil publicly admitted that he forged the documents and the fabricated 'Palladistic-Luciferian Masonry' which Miller and other credulous persons attributed to Pike." (A Cloud of Prejudice, page 55)

Art de Hoyos concludes, "Because Taxil's forgeries were exposed almost a century ago, it is difficult to believe that someone could study Freemasonry . . . and not discover the truth of the matter." (A Cloud of Prejudice, page 56)

Cephas Ministries also maintain that Pike's Morals and Dogma is authoritative. But, is it?

John Ankerberg and John Weldon write, "Which authors and books do Masons themselves recommend to outsiders as authoritative? In order to answer this question, a letter was sent to each of the fifty Grand Lodges in America. We addressed this letter to the Grand Master of each Lodge and asked him to respond to the following question: 'As an official Masonic leader, which books and authors do you recommend as being authoritative on the subject of Freemasonry?' Twenty-five of the Grand Lodges in the United States responded. A response of fifty percent is sufficiently high to suggest that the response of other states would not have varied significantly. In other words, we may assume that these responses are normative for U. S. Masonry as a whole. Remember, for each state, no higher jurisdictional authority that its Grand Lodge exists.
Which authors were recommended by the Grand Lodges as being authoritative for Masons?
44 percent recommended Henry Wilson Coil 36 percent Joseph Fort Newton
32 percent Albert G. Mackey
24 percent Carl H. Claudy
24 percent H. L. Haywood
20 percent Alphonse Cerza
20 percent Robert F. Gould
20 percent Allen E. Roberts
16 percent Albert Pike
Other authors recommended included W. R. Denslow, R. V. Denslow, Charles C. Hunt, Bernard Jones, Roscoe Pound, James Anderson, Henry C. Clausen, D. Darrah, Manly Hall, W. Hutchinson, M. M. Johnson, Karl C. F. Krause, W. Preston, G. Steinmetz, J. H. Van Gorden, T. S. Webb, and Louis Williams.
What individual books were recommended by the Grand Lodges as being authoritative interpreters of Freemasonry?
44 percent Coils Masonic Encyclopedia, by Henry Wilson Coil
36 percent The Builders, by Joseph Fort Newton 32 percent Mackey's Revised Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, by Albert G. Mackey
24 percent Introduction to Freemasonry, by Carl H. Claudy
24 percent The Newly-Made Mason, by H. L. Haywood 20 percent A Masonic Reader's Guide, by Alphonse Cerza
20 percent History of Freemasonry, by Robert F. Gould 20 percent The Craft and Its Symbols, by Allen E. Roberts
16 percent Morals and Dogma, by Albert Pike" (The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon, pages 16-17)

The anti-Masonic writers, John Ankerberg and John Weldon, admit that Masonic authority rests with each state's Grand Lodge. "Remember, for each state, no higher jurisdictional authority than its Grand Lodge exists." The Secret Teachings of the Masonic Lodge, page 16.

Freemasonry has no individual or universal "authority." No Masonic author is considered authoritative, in the sense they speak for the Fraternity.

In the preface to "Morals and Dogma" we find these words, "The teachings of these Readings are not sacramental . . . Every one is entirely free to reject and dissent from whatsoever herein may seem to him to be untrue or unsound. It is only required of him that he shall weight what is taught, and give it fair hearing and unprejudiced judgment . . . the ancient theosophies and philosophic speculations are not part of the doctrines of the Rite . . ." page iv.

In addition to this, Cephas Ministries ignores the following about "Morals and Dogma":
1. It has never had a role in the Blue Lodges.
2. It was rejected by the Northern Jurisdiction.
3. It was written for those who have received the degrees of the Scottish Rite in the form developed by Pike. For someone to attempt to interpret the contents without knowledge of the degrees is ludicrous. Furthermore, an honest person will admit that "Morals and Dogma" is a philosophical work. It is not a manifesto for Freemasonry. It was an attempt by Pike to provide a framework for understanding religions and philosophies of the past. To study the work of ancient cultures is not the same as to do what they did or believe what they believed.

". . . contrary to the impression Masons have had, Pike's time, thought, and writing were not absorbed by the Fraternity." H. L. Haywood, supplement to Mackey's Encyclopedia or Freemasonry. Macoy Publishing, Richmond, Virginia, 1966, page 1334.

Jim Tresner, "What Pike did or said does not define the Masonic Fraternity." ("The Man Beyond the Monument")

Warren Lichty, founding president emeritus, Scottish Rite Research Society, "Remember that this book ["Morals and Dogma"] describes Pike, the unique individual presented in his own words, and not the Masonic Fraternity."

Jim Tresner, "But its very important to understand what Pike was trying to do with "Morals and Dogma". It is not some kind of 'Bible' of Masonry. That thought would have horrified Pike. It was, instead, virtually the first attempt ever made to write a survey text on philosophy and religion." (The Man Beyond the Monument)

Eliphas Levi
Cephas Ministries maintain that Eliphas Levi was a "high level Mason." Is this true?

Eliphas Levi was born: Alphonse-Louis Constant He was a prolific writer on Magical Freemasonry, he has been called, "the last of the Magi."

Eliphas Levi was trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood. He is best known for his Doctrine of Transcendental Magic (1855), Ritual of Transcendental Magic (1856) and History of Magic (1860), all written before his brief association with Freemasonry.

He was initiated on March 14, 1861, in the Lodge Rose du Parfait Silence, Grand Orient of France, Paris.

He either quit or was dropped from the rolls: August 21, 1861. Eliaphas Levi was not and is not a spokesman for Freemasonry or a Masonic authority.

Eliphas Levi was not a "high level Mason."


Helena Blavatsky
Cephas Ministries maintain that Helena Blavatsky was a "high level Mason." Is this true? No, Helena Blavatsky was not a regular Mason.


August 5, 2007